As Atletico Madrid prepare for the Wednesday night visit of PSV Eindhoven, Diego Simeone has made some changes to the lineup that succumbed to a 3-0 derby day defeat against Real Madrid. Even though Los Rojiblancos are still fighting to top the group ahead of Bayern Munich, the match against the Dutch champions provides an opportunity to test out some personnel changes given that progress to the knockout stages is already sealed. Sime Vrsaljko was tested out in Juanfran's right-back spot in training, while Jose Maria Gimenez worked out at centre-back in place of Stefan Savic - who had a tough time in the derby as he conceded a penalty and saw Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick opener nick past him. Further shifts were made in the middle of the park, with Yannick Carrasco setting up on the right-hand side of midfield, while Nico Gaitan occupied the Belgian's usual spot on the left flank. Gabi and Koke once again trained in the centre, so Saul Niguez would be the man demoted to the bench if Simeone does indeed start with this XI in the Group D clash. Up front, Kevin Gameiro is expected to retake his place from Fernando Torres, alongside countryman Antoine Griezmann.
During the 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday, Fernando Torres left the field deflated after being subbed off for fellow Ateltico Madrid forward Kevin Gameiro, but despite this, he was full of support for manager Diego Simeone and has backed him to steer the club towards their initial pre-season ambitions. This despite a run of form that has already seen them concede 11 goals this season compared to just 18 in the whole of 2015/16. "We have never doubted Simeone," said Torres after the derby. "We are proud of what we are doing but we must recover our style." Los Rojiblancos will be looking to return to winning ways when they host PSV at the Estadio Vicente Calderon on Wednesday evening. "We must be prepared because every game is different," Torres added. "We are always together, we know what we want to achieve and how we need to achieve it." Atleti are now placed sixth in LaLiga, nine points behind league leaders Real Madrid, and will have a lot of work to do in order to rekindle their title hopes.
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